<p>IMHO, I usually don’t think taking refresher courses are a good idea. However, from personal experience (having taken AP chem soph year of HS), taking chem 23 (43 equivalent) was very helpful down the road for the MCAT especially with some of the trickier or harder to remember concepts in chemistry. YMMV</p>
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<p>Hahaha I actually do go to TJ. But yeah, I’m not looking for the easy A - I like classes that challenge me. I was just wondering whether it would be beneficial to take Chem 43 because I took AP Chem junior year, so the material isn’t that fresh in my memory. If I’d taken it this year, I might have considered skipping Chem 43 and taking Orgo. Anyways, thanks for the info, and it’s good to know that taking Chem 43 will be helpful down the road for the MCAT.</p>
<p>Not sure if this question was asked already, but has safety ever been an issue on campus? I know that the surrounding area is not the safest place, so waht precautions are taken on campus if any to avoid dangerous situations?</p>
<p>And does the bus system on campus stop at different locations throughout west campus, or just run from east to west campus?</p>
<p>Safety is a big issue in Durham, particularly near East Campus. It is also easy to get very slack in terms of vigilance because Duke and Durham have a relaxed, spacious vibe with gorgeous weather and grounds that dazzle you. </p>
<p>It is not safe to walk at night off campus without being in a group, and even then it is sometimes not safe. You should be very careful about returning to East or West on foot if you have been drinking and your decision making skills are weak. </p>
<p>Duke is not a closed community but it has a strong police force. Even so, it is open to Durham residents and things left in the library, gym and elsewhere on campus unsecured can and do disappear. You can look up stats on the website at Duke…every college is pretty open about college crime issues. </p>
<p>That said, Dukies do enjoy Durham, and find the whole revitalized Tobacco West Village region to be particularly fun for hanging out in…there is a huge Foodie culture in Durham and in Chapel Hill, and Dukies enjoy some evening on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill. Most Duke students volunteer somewhere in Durham and it is easy to get around in North Carolina thereabouts. The weather alone is very intoxicating and fun. The shuttle buses are actually a pretty successful aspect of Duke life and Duke freshmen tend to really enjoy their year on East campus as a class. Duke would like to tear down and build Central Campus over but timeline is in the future…they just did some upgrades there.</p>
<p>On campus, students feel safe and generally are indeed quite safe. It is a fabulous campus that doesn’t get boring or feel confining.</p>
<p>Our son’s take (may or may not be accurate, but should be taken as a description of the end result): the troublemakers in Durham know better than to mess around on campus. Granted, thefts of unadvisedly unsecured stuff (electronics left out, unattended, in the library) do happen, but violent crime on campus: not so much.</p>
<p>He lives off campus now and is mindful (as anyone in an urban area should be) of the risks of walking alone after dark in certain areas.</p>
<p>The thing is though, the areas around Duke aren’t all urban. I live 2 miles from West Campus and it’s about as suburban as you can get, hell it’s pretty close to rural. It’s quiet, lots of family residences, and nothing much to worry about. A few miles down the road and it’s fields and stuff farmhouses. </p>
<p>Sure the areas around East where lots of Duke students live can get a wee bit dodgy, but if you are willing to live a bit out of the way in places where not many undergrads live, it’s downright peaceful. And it’s not like it’s a long commute, I drive 2 miles straight down morreene road to get to West Campus, no turns whatsoever. Takes about 5-10 min max plus a 15 min walk across campus to E-Quad probably about the same amount of time as if you went to East and took a C1 to class.</p>
<p>Another question: I’ve heard great things about undergraduate research at Duke, but how early can you get involved (i.e. as soon as your freshman year?), and how involved will you be in the project(s) you work on if you get started really early? Also, how early on can you do your own independent research?</p>
<p>If eatsalot is still around, I’ll repeat my question for him/her:</p>
<p>eatsalot - I hope this doesn’t come off as stalkerish or anything, but I happened to look up “undergraduate neuroscience program rankings” on google (since that’s what I’m interested in), and came across a CC thread in which you had written that “Duke’s program was the final cherry on top an helped me finalize my decision to attend.” Can you elaborate? I’m really interested in neuroscience and have done enough research on Duke’s major to know what classes you have to take and what requirements you have to fulfill to get distinction and all that, but I’d love to get your insider’s view! What about Duke’s neuroscience major do you believe distinguishes it and puts it head and shoulders above the undergrad neuro majors offered at other schools?</p>
<p>Throughout high school, I have been a mostly A student… Would getting a C in my AP Calculus BC or AP Statistics class (ONE C) put me at risk of getting rescinded? My intended major has nothing to do with math.</p>
<p>This question has probably been answered before, but </p>
<p>Why is Pratt ranked so low? Compared to Caltech and MIT, is it not as great? But then how come BME is top class?</p>
<p>When I looked at the course sheets, ECE and BME had few differences in the courses that had to be taken…so why is ECE low in rankings while BME is #4 in the nation?</p>
<p>Because Duke engineering is not that great, beside from BME. Ranking is based on departmental production (mostly publication, citation, and grants). Duke is actually tanked higher in undergraduate BME education than graduate BME.</p>
<p>I will disagree that the rest of engineering is not that great. But I agree that rankings are reflective of size, production, publications, etc. BME is highly ranked because the Duke program and JHU were the first of their kind; much of the publications, research, etc have come from these schools. I was told by a BME dean that it is expected that the Duke BME rankings will fall as more large schools get into the field. The staff, the curriculum, the education itself will not suffer, but the rankings will.</p>
<p>But…the BME curriculum isn’t so different from the ECE one (the ECE/BME dual courses are VERY SIMILAR to only BME major, one two extra courses required for the dual majors)…why is ECE ranked low?</p>
<p>Because ECE is not BME. ECE departments are not ranking according to the same standard as BME departments. The only thing that you can infer from the fact that a BME/ECE is only two extra courses is that the BME curriculum at Duke is still very much electronics-oriented.</p>
<p>^Alright, so if Duke BME is more electronics oriented, then why is ECE by itself low ranked while BME is #4 in the nation?</p>
<p>Size of the program compared to that of its peers really does skew the rankings.</p>
<p>Do you guys recommend holding off on chem 31L til second semester freshman year and take orgo over the summer/ first semester sophomore year in order to get acclimated to Duke first semester and not have a hard weed-out class? I’m considering being a pubpol and polisci double major with premed, but I don’t want to risk making a B or worse first semester with no developed work ethic or study habits at Duke, as opposed to taking it second semester where I’ll be used to Duke and might have a chance to earn that A. Is it fairly normal to do that or do most premed students take orgo I second semester freshman year?</p>
<p>John117, why are you so overly concerned with rankings? Engineering ranks are skewed towards schools that are primarily engineering schools (MIT, Caltech) or larger state schools (Berkeley, Georgia Tech, etc). Duke is neither. It is a small liberal arts college in a research intensive university. Pratt is unique in that it’s very liberal arts oriented and very interdisciplinary. Unlike at those “top ranked” engineering schools, about 1/3 of a Pratt student’s curriculum is taken in Trinity. Most Pratt kids don’t go into engineering (in fact, only 1/3 do). Most Pratt graduates go into academia, medicine, or high-end finance. So if you WANT go live in a cubicle afterwards, then maybe you should go to to a higher ranked engineering school, as that’s not what Duke will probably land you. You can if you want, but the environment of Pratt and Duke in general is not skewed towards such professions. Notice how all of our peer schools in terms of overall academics (Penn, Columbia, HYP) have “low-ranked” engineering schools. Just because it is not ranked with Berkeley doesn’t mean it’s an inadequate education. Rather, it means that all of these schools (again, Duke, Columbia, Penn, et al) are doing something different. And different doesn’t equal bad.</p>
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<p>Sorry! I’ve been very busy lately heh.</p>
<p>1) You can get involved since day one. Seriously. Professors are usually pretty happy to have an undergrad in their lab. Many actively search for undergrads by posting flyers and posters everywhere on campus. 
The earlier you get started, the better. That way you have time to develop your skills and the project(s) you’re working on.</p>
<p>2) Neuroscience at Duke really attracted me to Duke because it emphasized an interdisciplinary education. If you look through many of our peer school’s academics (majors, minors offered), Duke is one of the very few that actually offer a MAJOR in neuroscience. This was a testament to the strength of Duke’s interdisciplinary approach to education and the willingness of Duke has an institution to try new things and be a leader in academics, despite it’s younger age. </p>
<p>Duke’s neuroscience department is amazing. Here’s some information I feel may help you (this is not me, but I noticed it on the facebook page haha):</p>
<p>[Neuroscience</a> | Facebook](<a href=“http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=212669847624&topic=14433]Neuroscience”>http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=212669847624&topic=14433)</p>
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<p>As many of these students are saying, Duke is a great place to be in you want to study anything interdisciplinary, especially neuroscience. The neuroscience department as a lot of overlap with professors from the medical school, which is one of the best in the world. You’re guaranteed incredible professors. It’s a great, great program here at Duke. Feel free to ask more questions about it! :)</p>
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<p>It is very common for students to take orgo second semester freshman year. I’d suggest (personally) to take chem 31 right away. To be honest, you’re going to feel like you will be behind if you don’t start chemistry right away. Not only will you be on track, but it’ll help you figure out whether you’re really pre-med. The best advice a professor here gave me is to never fear in closing academic doors. And that’s because Duke has SO MANY and it can be a little overwhelming. So try it out and see if you really want to be premed. </p>
<p>That being said, you can always talk to your prehealth advisor about this as well. Don’t get the picture from what I said that everything is really fast paced and there’s a timeline for courses for premed students. I guess I just like to make sure I have wiggle room to study abroad, go to DukeEngage, etcetc.</p>
<p>Will we be getting advice from the pre-med adviser before we have to go through this process of choosing classes? Or are you completely on our own :S …</p>